The University of North Dakota hockey team is on a bye week, and some are looking for a way to fill the void. I've been catching up on various podcasts and YouTube videos. Last night, the University of Hockey tweeted this out. I decided to check it out. It's worth a listen. For the record, Adam Wodon of College Hockey News favors keeping the status quo. He's not a fan of home-site regionals. DU head coach David Carle favors having the higher seeds host regional games. It's a pretty fair concept.
It would work like this: the top seed would face the 16th seed. The second seed would host the 15th seed. The third seed would host the 14th seed. The seeding would work its way through the field. It seems pretty reasonable. Wodon asked Carle if he would favor playing the Gophers on their home ice if they were a higher seed. He said yes.
If you fast forward to the 36:00 minute mark, you can hear DU head coach David Carle and Adam Wodon discuss the various issues in college hockey, more specifically, the current flawed regional hockey playoffs format. It's kind of interesting because Carle negates many of the arguments for keeping the status quo. I applaud Carle for being at the forefront of wanting to improve the game and the fan experience. Kudos to them for having a civil discussion.That sound you hear starting at 59:00, is Wodon's argument collapsing in on itself like a dying star. David Carle asks him pointed questions and absolutely puts him in a box... https://t.co/TqB03Zg3Dl pic.twitter.com/gSwhAVASrF
— University of Hockey (@UofHockeyBlog) February 9, 2024
Here are a couple of quotes that stuck out for me.The CHN Insiders Podcast gets you ready for the weekend.https://t.co/PK8BAbBJjD ... follow the podcast Twitter feed @CHNsiders
— College Hockey News (@chnews) February 8, 2024
"We are in a very small minority of sports that do it this way, Carle said. College football is also neutral, but even the behemoth that it is, next year, expanding to 12. They are going to campus sites."
"We are vastly in the minority of not using home site top seeds hosting in any capacity," Carle said. "For the record, I'm against North Dakota being a one-seed this year and having three teams come into their building. That's worse than what we currently do—the top four seats hosting, you know, all the teams to four sites. It's worse when you talk about atmosphere, excitement, and the fan experience. I would just get we all host games all the time, right? The top eight would host the bottom eight."
Carle brought up a good point: when Miami was a number one seed, they had to play a four seed in Providence in Providence. They're against home teams hosting regionals, but Providence was playing in their hometown.
"We talk about fairness," Carle said. "How is it fair that Miami has to go play Providence in Providence while Denver has to fly out east to play Boston College and Providence?"
"Schools like Yale and Cornell are all the teams I grew up following," Wodon said. "They're the ones who feel like these things often disfavor them. Eight, nine, seven, 10: Is it enough of a difference? As a coach, you're saying you don't care if you're going into a hostile environment; I know from talking to coaches in the past that others do care."
